Healthcare systems that serve diverse communities are tasked with the same three goals when implementing language-access programs:

Improve outcomes

Maximize staff efficiency

Control costs

One of America’s most respected healthcare networks has accomplished these three goals by implementing a forward-looking, comprehensive language-access program that serves patients who speak more than 150 languages.

Most of Houston is located on the gulf coastal plain. A year ago, Hurricane Harvey inundated America’s fourth-largest city with over 50 inches of rain and impacted more than 300,000 housing units. More homes flooded in Houston during Hurricane Harvey than in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. It was the third year in a row that Houston experienced severe flooding.

Accordingly, Houston placed fifth on a recent list of the 10 riskiest American cities for natural disasters. Two other Texas cities, Austin (second) and Dallas (fourth), also made the list.

The City of Houston has been proactive in preparing for natural disasters. Its Public Health Emergency Preparedness Team recently participated in the annual City of Houston Evacuation Hub Exercise. The Houston Health Department recently posted this video depicting the exercise.

Most North American healthcare organizations are striving to be more inclusive – not to mention remaining in compliance with current regulations – by providing expanded language access through in-house interpreters and bilingual staff.

But how can these organizations be certain that their bilingual staff members are as proficient in a second language as they say they are? How can they know that the in-house and remote interpreters working with their patients are indeed qualified?

All healthcare organizations must have answers to these questions in a world that is increasingly multicultural. This is why our next free webinar is entitled “Ensuring Interpreter Quality.” This online event will take place from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday, June 26.

Yampa Valley Medical Center (YVMC) in Steamboat Springs, CO, is a 39-bed acute-care hospital that provides sophisticated medical services to more than 51,000 outpatients annually. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the region is a popular vacation destination, which adds to the challenge of serving the rural area’s diverse language needs.

“We have 16 different languages used in 2017 at the hospital,” said Erica Gallagher, manager of language services at Yampa Valley Medical Center. “Our highest frequency languages are Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.

“When you first encounter someone that speaks a language other than the one you speak, you may feel like you can communicate decently, and that’s OK. But the more you have experience with it, you come to realize that, even if one word is misinterpreted, the outcome could be fatal or at the very least, have really negative consequences for the patient.”

If your company wants to compete in the global marketplace, there’s no question you need to consider website translation and localization. Website translation is just one aspect of localization, but it’s an important part of the process.

So once you’ve decided to translate your company’s website to the language of the market you’re targeting, how do you make sure it stands out among the competition? After all, English is the primary language of only 25 percent of internet users. It follows that many of the other 75 percent of internet users are conducting searches in some other language, meaning that website translation and multilingual SEO go hand-in-hand.

Yes, incorporating SEO into your website translation is another step. But given all the work you’ve put in to perfect your English-language website and the effort it takes to translate web pages, it would be a shame to let it go to waste when potential customers can’t find you.

No matter your profession, you know how difficult it can be to serve clients when there are language barriers—especially if you're a small business.

You can't afford to have bilingual employees on hand for those moments when you need an interpreter quickly. And you don't have the volume to justify hiring a language services provider.

Fortunately, LanguageLine offers another solution that provides immediate access to an over-the-phone interpreter without a contract.

Our Personal Interpreter services are ideal for clinics, legal professionals and small businesses that need fast and reliable access to interpretation. Check out this infographic to learn more about how these services can help you expand your reach, improve customer service and achieve compliance to laws and regulations.

You care for patients at a community health center. You see many patients each day and strive to deliver the very best treatment.

Your center serves not only Spanish-speaking families, but recently many Vietnamese are coming in for services. You understand the basics of the language but are far from fluent—certainly not enough to have in-depth conversations about their health concerns.

Communicating effectively and efficiently with all your patients is a high priority, not only to deliver the appropriate care, but also for better health outcomes and patient satisfaction.

What if you had reliable, on-demand, easy to access qualified language interpreters anytime you needed them?

Insurance is a complex and sensitive industry. Policyholders are seeking to protect the things and people that matter most. Each has several points of contact with an agency or company, from quoting to enrolling to filing a claim to updating coverages.

Communicating the details of an insurance plan or a claim can be difficult enough in English, but when the policyholder speaks another language, the conversation can become even more challenging.

Insurance companies often have bilingual agents or contact center employees to handle interactions with policyholders or potential customers in a handful of languages. But many are missing a significant opportunity by not completely fulfilling the needs of people who speak other fast-growing languages in the United States. Instead of having a long-term partnership with a single interpreting agency, they use various vendors for different languages and types of services. This can lead to inconsistency, confusion and frustration for customers, plus inefficiency for employees.

Here are three good reasons why insurance companies should hire not only an interpreting agency for handling phone calls, but one that offers comprehensive language services.

The potential for new revenue among multicultural consumers is significant for the financial services industry. On average, this diverse market is younger and growing faster than the “general market,” and that represents real growth for the future. Part of this diversity includes the consumer's preferred language.

To connect with all generations of multicultural consumers now, organizations must communicate in the languages those consumers understand best and that resonate with them. With language access built into all consumer touch points, financial services firms can build relationships, as well as be more successful offering financial products and services to help consumers achieve their goals.

This infographic illustrates the enormous opportunities financial services organizations have to reach multicultural consumers and how language access fits in.